SLADE
Listening isn’t one of my favorite things. I learned to turn a deaf ear to a lot of things, particularly if it is coming from the werewolf council or any of the pack elders. It gets irritating having to listen to the same sermon over and over again when I am even more worried about the situation than they are. My nights are filled with nightmares, and my days with unending pressure.
I didn’t grow Dark wolf Pack to be the strongest, largest, and most feared pack only for it to be taken away from my bloodline because of me. I made Dark Wolf Pack what it is today. My efforts brought us here, and I’m not scared of dying, far from it. In fact, if I die, I die a noble man, I die because of the sacrifice I had to make for my pack. I accomplished what I planned for my pack within six years of my reign. Something my father failed to achieve in his twenty-eight years on seat.
I took on the role of alpha of Dark Wolf Pack at age eighteen which is quite young. But everyone knew I was ready. My strength, confidence, emotional intelligence, and many more remain unmatched across all pack Alphas to date.
I may be surly and a tad bit arrogant, but that’s what got us here, and who wouldn’t be if they were counting the days till their death?
I rubbed on the scar on my right thighs absently. It served as a reminder that my time was running out. It’s been two years since that night, and things definitely turned better for my pack, but it turned worse for me, and as the days go by, the harsh reality of what is to come cuts deeper into me.
Werewolves have the ability to heal fast, and it’s even faster for alpha wolves, but this scar wasn’t an injury from any fight, it was a mark placed on me by that haggard witch, a mark that would only fade off if the curse is broken.
“Are you even listening to us, Slade?” That’s my father’s voice, the former alpha of Dark Wolf Pack, his deep baritone snapping me out of my thoughts. He too, just like everyone addresses me by our family name.
“Hmm..” I muttered absent-mindedly.
The pack elders, all six of them, as well as a representative from the werewolf council, and my father were seated at the table around me. If the alpha position leaves our bloodline, I’m not sure what will be the fate of Dark Wolf Pack, and it wasn’t in my plans to watch all I labored for slip right through my fingers because I don’t have an heir yet.
The curse says I would die on my twenty-fifth birthday, and by my calculations, that is exactly ten months and twelve days from now. That’s all the time I have to find my mate and produce an heir, otherwise, I’ll lose everything.
In the past two years, I’ve invaded several packs in search of my mate. I have combed through hundreds of them, flown across different countries, and continents, but I didn’t find her. What makes it more frustrating is the fact that no other person can carry my heir except my mate. Only intercourse between mates can produce a child.
The alpha title of Dark Wolf pack has been in my family since the pack’s inception, and I’m not ready to be the man to humiliate and ridicule my family name. The pack elders are worried about losing it too, because in all honesty, no one would be able to lead this pack as we have. Everything will go to ruins.
The memories of all that happened that night is still freshly inscribed in my head. A night of victory turned out to be a night of sadness after Lucinda spilled her blood to place a curse on me.
In my six years as Alpha of Dark Wolf pack, I have conquered several packs, enlarging my coast and growing my army. Every member of my pack undergoes the weekly training. I can’t stand to have one weak pack member. Even the Omega’s in my pack had to be stronger than other pack Omega’s. Still, the one thing I wanted desperately, I couldn’t find.
“If this title leaves your bloodline, we are doomed, Slade,” Ephesus, one of the pack elders say in his grumpy voice. “Dark Wolf pack would cease to exist,”
“She has to be somewhere, Slade,” Rogers, another elder added.
I stretched out my long legs in front of me and rest my arms on the table. “Maybe you can tell me where she is?” I growled at Rogers.
He leaned back in his seat “Slade-”
I held up my hands to silence him “I’ve raided packs, fought with many alphas and defeated them, and fear is not a word you will find in my dictionary. Yet, when I think of what would become of my pack when I pass on, it leaves me mortified,” I seethed.
The whole room is quiet. The pack elders may have experience in age, but they feared me. I have more experience in battle. Spending all my teenage years training amongst the greatest alphas molded me into who I am now.
“Then you should see the pack witch. Who knows, she might just have some information about your mate,” My father suggested.
“True,” Rogers seconded.
Ever since the incident with Lucinda, I stayed away from witches in general, including my pack witch. The thought of that night always leaves a sour taste in my mouth, and seeing our pack witch would just remind me of her. I considered going against the witches, killing as many of them as I could before I die because of what Lucinda did to me, but my father warned me against it. It wouldn’t solve anything, and I’ll only succeed in inflicting more curses on my pack, so I gave up the idea.
I’ve made sure to stay away from the pack witch and even restrict her movements around the pack so that our paths don’t cross. In the last few weeks, she has sent tons of messages requesting to have a talk with me, but I ignored them.
All eyes were on me now, waiting for my response. Resorting to a witch to get answers to a situation caused by a witch isn’t what I would like to do but what other options do I have now? I had to drop my anger towards our pack witch, this wasn’t her fault, and I’m desperate, so I just nodded my head.
“I’ll consider it,” I say simply.
My dad sighed loudly, but I don’t give him a chance to speak further. I rose to my feet. We have been here for over an hour now, and half the time I wasn’t listening to them. I needed a break. It’s been a long day, and I need to retire early
“Excuse me elders, father,” I excused myself.
My house is a few meters from the pack house. Most Alphas and their betas reside in the pack house, but my need for space and privacy made me erect a separate building. I would like to spend my remaining days on earth in peace.
I had just taken a few steps outside when Marcel intercepts me. Marcel is my beta and childhood best friend. He’d been at Lakewood the day I killed their alpha and witnessed the whole thing. I don’t have lots of friends, majorly because I’m unapproachable. I mean what’s the point of keeping friends only to leave them behind in a few months?
“The witch huh?” he raised a brow.
I scoffed “You eavesdropped again,”
He flashes me a wide grin “I couldn’t help it,”
“I don’t have much choice. It’s not in my nature, but she has to be useful now. She’s meant to serve us, and what’s the point keeping her on my land if she can’t put her powers to use?” I frowned.
“You have been ignoring her Slade,” he accused.
“I have every reason to,” I chided.
“Indeed you do, but glad you changed your mind,” He sighed “I hope there’s a way to break the curse,” he added
I glanced at him. Marcel is the closest person to me, and he would probably miss me more than my parents would, but I don’t think I’ll miss anything or anyone here. I’ve lost any emotional connection I feel, and even I know that I’m gradually turning into a cold man. I shrug and keep walking.
“You don’t care, do you?” he asked.
“No,” I say briskly. I don’t mind dying, what I do mind is not producing an heir before I die. Marcel nods his head and continues to walk besides me. The only thing I care about is finding my mate and planting my seeds in her.
“Gather the Warriors and prepare them for training tomorrow. Those on patrol for the night cannot miss the early morning training either,” I instruct him. I’m going to be gone soon, and I want to immerse myself in more pack work, and channel my inner anger into fighting and training my Warriors. I don’t need any form of pity from anyone, let alone Marcel.
“Aye, captain,” he gives me a mock salute before taking the next bend.
“I’ve been waiting for you, Alpha,” The red head sprawled on my couch licked her lips and caressed her thighs seductively. She is wearing black lingerie with matching black pencil heels, batting her eyelids at me like a cat.I grabbed her roughly by the arms and yanked her off my seats, anger rolling off me, but she squirms like a little school girl who’s just been offered cotton candy.“You know I like it rough, alpha,” she giggles.“What the fuck are you still doing here?” I barked. She flinched, Maybe I raised my voice a little too much, but I made it crystal clear before leaving this morning that I didn’t want her here when I got back.I had a one-night stand with the red head once, and that’s all it was supposed to be, that was our deal. Her name, I can’t even remember, but she wouldn’t give me breathing space after that night. She isn’t from my pack, I know better than to
ARIAMy eyes scanned the bathroom for the tenth time, checking to make sure I didn’t leave any spot unattended. It looked perfect to me but I doubt Mrs. Brown would be pleased with the result. She is never pleased with anything and I learned that within two days of working with her. I spent the last four hours scrubbing this particular toilet because Mrs. Brown wanted it perfect, as it was situated in the master’s bedroom of her mansion, and she spends most of her time in here than in her actual bedroom according to her.I looked longingly at the bathroom again. What I would give to have a proper shower in a bathroom so luxurious. It is even bigger than the living room in my house!Sweat trickled down my forehead, chest, under arms, and even my thighs. I’m exhausted. Within the last three days, I have taken up all kinds of jobs I could get my hands on to make money, and so has Audrey and
I thought Pablo and his gang were the scariest-looking men I had laid my eyes on in a long time, but the man standing adjacent to me reminded me of Hercules. He stood a reasonable distance away, yet one could easily see he was brawny. His well-defined muscles hugged his shirt that had a few buttons opened and the top and the sleeves rolled up as if he had come prepared for a fight, but his hands were tucked casually into his pant pockets.“Who the fuck are you?” Pablo brawled.“Leave the girl alone,” He repeated, his tone was quiet but commanding.I take the opportunity to wriggle my arms again in an attempt to get them free, but Pablo’s grip tightened even more. His colleague had released me to move towards the stranger, cracking his knuckles as he did.“You have a chance to turn around and walk away like you didn’t see anything,” Pablo’s colleague warned, but his words do not move this stranger
“You don’t need to, I can walk,” I doubled my steps, but his strides were way longer than mine, and in no time, I had to occasionally jug to meet up with his pace. There was no use being so strong-headed. Pablo could still be anywhere around here watching me.“Are you not interested in knowing what we need you for?” Marcel apparently wasn’t backing down. I’m not exactly short, but I feel like an ant walking beside him.The offer sounds tempting, but I don’t want to get my hopes up. Things just never worked in my favor. Nothing I ever did or hoped for went the way I wanted them and I gave up dreaming a long time ago. It’s almost like the universe worked against me.“What is it I have to do?” I asked casually. My ears were itching, and my mind was trained to receive whatever ridiculous thing he had to say.“We need an heir that only you can provide!” he rasped.&ldquo
The rumbling sound from my stomach served as a reminder that it needed food. Since I wasn't cleaning for Mrs. brown today, I had to return home earlier than usual, something I wasn't exactly happy about. Being around the four walls of that house was torture, the air around the gloomy environment could easily drive one into depression, and father's surly attitude made it even worse. These days, I hated seeing him. The mere thought of him angered me, and if I had anywhere else to be rather than in that house, then I would gladly go there.Unfortunately, I do not have a lot of friends. No one wants to mingle with a low life like me, rejection was nothing new to me and I can't say I am exactly the friendly type. I learned to keep to myself and maintain my own space as a child because no one ever really wanted to be seen with me.Did I get male advances? Yes, a lot. Nine out of the ten men I meet just want to get into my panties, but I learned quickly to differentiate bet
Everything I own fits into a small box, so packing wasn't difficult at all. There wasn't anything to leave behind, except for my bed of course and Audrey followed behind me as I wheeled the box to the middle of the parlour. Asides from mom and Audrey, the only thing I would miss in this house would be my room.My mum pulled me into a bone-crushing hug while dad was outside with the two men. Tears spilled out her eyes."I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," she says, releasing me only to take me back into a tighter hug."Tell me what," I squeezed my brows together, but she just shook her head and clutched her mouth in her hands, her eyes red from too much crying."You will find out soon enough," she responds amidst tears. She checks me over, then crushes me into another hug."You're being weird. I'm coming back soon mother. Once the deal is completed, I'll be back. You're acting like you are never going to set eyes on me again," I lamented.Mo
A knock on the door sent me flying out of the chair I’d been sitting in. I instinctively wrapped my arms across my body, and proceeded with caution to the door, until the knock sounded a little impatient the second time. I didn’t think the door was locked, and I knew Slade wouldn’t have to knock to enter his house even if it was.I opened the door cautiously, and let out my breath in relief when I saw two petite girls, the one in front carrying a tray, and the other a small bag. I stepped back to allow them come in. “Alpha Slade is not going to be happy to see this,” the second girl frowned after setting the bag she’d been carrying on the bed while the other dropped the tray on the table opposite the bed.“See what?” I followed her gaze to where my bag lay scattered on the floor. I’d come out of the bathroom a few minutes ago, and I had spent the last minutes rummaging through my bag to pick out what to wear, but it appears like I all my clothes were unworthy. I’m not e
His gaze did not waver from mine for the next ten seconds after Sapphire departed. He left the door ajar while the girl who had brought in the meal came back to clear the table and only carefully locked it after she was gone.Excitement and fear enveloped me, with fear taking the better part of me. I’m far from shy or timid, but I find myself tongue-tied when he is anywhere near me. His eyes were devouring me as I shifted my weight from one foot to another uncomfortably. Despite the enormous size of the room, it feels rather small with him in it.“Sit down Aria,” His authoritative voice remained emotionless as I settled myself on the sofa Sapphire had been sitting on, instead of the bed he had pointed to, and a scowl crossed his face.I kept my eyes trained to the ground as he starts to unbutton his shirt, my heart doing a faster rhythm than normal. I couldn’t bring myself to look at him as he peeled his shirt off his body and dumped it in the pile of unwa